Stanford win pushes UNI back into the KenPom top 100 which gives the MVC 5 top 100 teams. SIU is at 110 and UIC is at 127. All in all, a really good non-conference season for the Valley so far.
Not sure how a 2-4 team can be in the top 100, but regardless it is good for the Valley as they jump back to 11th in conference rankings, just behind the A-10. Evansville and UIC look to be considerably better than anticipated, as is SIU. Coach of the year in the Valley will be interesting this year.
And Texas Tech hits the game winner with .8 left, UNI to 1-4
They likely aren't as bad as their record, but can you imagine being 1-4 right now. I blame their coaches and the schedule they set. After last year, you would think they would get a couple easier games to start the season but instead are now 1-4 and it's not getting any easier. They'll be lucky to win 4 games in the non-conference. Like winning, losing is contagious and it will be hard for this team to turn their season around. It's a shame as I had high hopes for them this year.
Respectfully mostly disagree on this. If anything having halftime leads three straight days on North Carolina, Texas Tech and Stanford, including whipping Stanford, should be a confidence-booster for UNI, along with teaching some lessons that will help a veteran team find another gear. The tournament certainly won’t hurt their metrics.
I’ll always credit a team for scheduling up, especially a veteran team with expectations. Maybe their schedule overall is a bit too tough/road heavy, and I certainly wish they’d have beaten North Texas or South Florida, but I respect the hell out of UNI’s approach and still expect them to be a tough squad to deal with going forward.
One other thought: if UNI wins Arch Madness, do you think they’ll be the least bit intimidated now by a power conference opponent in the NCAAs?
And Texas Tech hits the game winner with .8 left, UNI to 1-4
They likely aren't as bad as their record, but can you imagine being 1-4 right now. I blame their coaches and the schedule they set. After last year, you would think they would get a couple easier games to start the season but instead are now 1-4 and it's not getting any easier. They'll be lucky to win 4 games in the non-conference. Like winning, losing is contagious and it will be hard for this team to turn their season around. It's a shame as I had high hopes for them this year.
Respectfully mostly disagree on this. If anything having halftime leads three straight days on North Carolina, Texas Tech and Stanford, including whipping Stanford, should be a confidence-booster for UNI, along with teaching some lessons that will help a veteran team find another gear. The tournament certainly won’t hurt their metrics.
I’ll always credit a team for scheduling up, especially a veteran team with expectations. Maybe their schedule overall is a bit too tough/road heavy, and I certainly wish they’d have beaten North Texas or South Florida, but I respect the hell out of UNI’s approach and still expect them to be a tough squad to deal with going forward.
One other thought: if UNI wins Arch Madness, do you think they’ll be the least bit intimidated now by a power conference opponent in the NCAAs?
It's hard to argue with your logic but at the same time, I'm just not a moral victory kind of guy. Having the lead at halftime and then blowing it doesn't seem that it would boost confidence to me. Stanford win looks great on paper but in watching, it looked liked they didn't even want to be there. The crux of the discussion, however is whether or not it's better to lose games against much better teams/competition or play competitive games and win them. I'm just a guy who thinks teams should schedule challenging but winnable games. My biggest issue with their schedule is that there was too many of the really challenging games and there are still more coming up. Hope they can turn their season around.
Evansville is up 51-29 over SEMO at the half. Humrichous has been a big pickup for the Aces
Valpo beats Southern 71-59. They’ve played a weak schedule but did not expect them to be 4-2 so far.
Belmont playing in a tight game at Penn. Would be a nice, and MUCH needed, win for them. UIC has a tough road matchup vs George Washington, Drake should handle Texas Southern at home but then Bradley has a very tough home game vs Vermont. Hoping the Valley can do undefeated today.
Belmont beats Penn in OT 84-79
UIC up 15 on 5-0 George Washington with 17:00 left
Drake holds on with an uninspiring 77-71 win over Texas Southern.
UIC is up 6 on George Washington late
Bradley is up 6 on Vermont at the half.
Vermont hasn't scored in 4 minutes. Bradley on a run, up 15 with 9 minutes left
I think Bradley gets the nod over Drake right now for me
Bradley has played much stronger than Drake. Especially today, Drake only beating Texas Southern by 7 at home this afternoon.
The Braves are 6-0 and the Valley has a perfect day today
The team that wins the valley regular season this year might only go 13-7 or so. This league other than Valpo, looks pretty tough 1-11, and the top two or three teams aren't the ones looking the most impressive so far. Its the middle of the pack teams like us, uic, msu, and evansville that have overperformed the most compared to expectations so far. This league will be an epic battle this year. No dominant team, and really no gimme games to speak of either.
Can't watch the game because FloHoops but UIC is down 1 to UNC Greensboro with 2:22 left. UNC Greensboro is 4-1 and has a win at Arkansas
